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Issue 18
Official Summary Another tension-filled issue of Invader ZIM will see Dib facing off against his greatest enemy… BEES! Wait, is that right? Uh… sure!https://oni-press.myshopify.com/products/invader-zim-19 Release Issue 18 was released on April 5, 2017. Variations INVADERZIM 18 FINAL.jpg|Warren Wucinich Standard Retail Cover (Final) INVADERZIM 18 VARIANT FINAL.jpg|Aaron Conley Variant Cover Issue #18 has a total of 2 cover variations. #Warren Wucinich standard retail cover #Aaron Conley variant cover Characters in Issue #18 (In Order of Appearance) Synopsis The issue opens with the Almighty Tallest having a ceremony to honor Invader Larb as the "most successful Invader". In recognition of all the worlds he's conquered for Operation Impending Doom II, and in preparation for his next mission, they present him with a brand new Zhook Cruiser. Zim suddenly interrupts the ceremony with a call, presenting the Tallest with his latest creation, a robot battlesloth, figuring that it's worthy of a Zhook for him as well. Instead, the Tallest cut him off, and block transmissions from his half of the galaxy so that he can't call again. Incensed that Larb is being lauded for all of his "easy" victories, Zim decides to rank up his scores as well, and searches for an easy conquest on Earth as well, settling on Burrito King. Attacking the restaurant, Zim kicks out the owner, Burrito Royale, and takes over, declaring himself the new Burrito King. He then states that anyone who pledges loyalty to him will get free burritos, and has GIR begin making them. Unfortunately, GIR cannot cook, and keeps ruining the burritos. Zim is upset, but surprised when people keep showing up for free burritos anyway, and after they all agree to serve him, has GIR keep trying. At one point during this, Dib shows up. Realizing what Zim's up to, Dib swears to stop him, only for Zim's "followers" to chase him off for being annoying. When a burrito is finally prepared, Zim prepares to have all his followers share it at once, but first hacks into the Tallests' transmissions to brag to them. However, he finds that Larb has already conquered a space burrito shop and declared himself "Space Burrito Emperor", thus one-upping him. Undeterred, Zim orders his new minions to eat the burrito, only for the Howler monkey that GIR baked into it to burst out and scare them all off. Suddenly, Burrito Royale returns with his own army of followers, including Dib. He reveals how he went on a long journey (despite Dib pointing out that he's only been gone since that morning), until he finally learned to gain power over beans, and returned to confront Zim. Zim attempts to fight Burrito with his army, but they all abandon him. Unwilling to give up, Zim reveals that his bean-based throne is actually a mechsuit called a "Mecha-Rito" and activates it, prepared to do battle. But Burrito just has his followers trigger a trap he had lying around for some reason, destroying the Mecha-Rito, then uses his powers to banish Zim and GIR from the restaurant. The issue ends with a poster for a movie about Burrito Royale, now known as "The Last Beanbender". Facts of Doom *When Burrito Royale is mentioned as being "the last beanbender", it's a reference to another one of Nickelodeon's shows Avatar: The Last Airbender. *Burrito King is an obvious parody of Burger King. *Zim's outfit after taking over Burrito King (as seen on the comic's cover) is similar to how Emperor Zim dresses. *The scene where Zim demands the first of his followers kiss his "burrito ring" is reminiscent of the Godfather movies, where Mafia members kissed the Don's ring as a sign of respect. *Strangely, one of the titles that the Tallest list while lauding Larb is "Slaughterer of the Slaughtering Rat People", despite the fact that Skoodge was the one who conquered Blorch, while Invader Grapa was the one who got credited for it. *This won't be the last time we'll see the rat in a sombrero; It makes another appearance in Issue 24. *Apparently, Eric Trueheart had been wanting to write a story like this since the animated series. Jhonen Vasquez describes it as a "realization of his dreams from back in the day."http://jhonenv.tumblr.com/post/159356327800/sketchhero-warren-if-you-forgot-to-pick-up *In Issue 40, images from this issue (specifically, when Zim is trying to impress the Tallest with the Battle Sloth) are used to represent the main comic's universe. *The concept of the Burrito King restaurant was originally proposed as part of a potential episode which never got made. How similar the plot of the published issue is to the original episode idea is unknown, but since Eric Trueheart proposed the episode and wrote the issue, they're likely to be similar. References Category:Comic Category:Merchandise Category:Comic Series Category:Issue 18 Category:Volume 4